Anna's Weekly Visit
by ashyartemispotozuko
Summary: Very short story of one of Anna's weekly visit to Elsa's door. Takes place during the movie in-between their parents dying and Elsa being crowned. Anna goes to Elsa's door every week to tell her sister about her life. It's simply a short story on both their reactions and feelings toward the situation.


It was exactly 4:15 PM. Elsa looked at the clock on her wall and glanced at the calendar again. Yes, it was Wednesday. She smiled slightly. For a while, on Wednesdays at 4:15 PM, she could smile a little and forget her problems.

The knock sounded just like always.

"Elsa?" she heard Anna's voice call through the door. "Elsa… I miss you. I wish I could talk to you face to face." Anna said.

Elsa took her usual spot by the door, curled up sitting on the floor. She pulled her knees to her chest and clutched her legs. She was in the perfect spot that she had discovered years ago, a spot that when Anna came to the door to talk, even if she whispered, Elsa could still hear her.

"What have you been up to?" Anna asked politely, as she always did.

Elsa smiled sadly, but didn't answer. She never answered. She was afraid that if she answered even once, she would lose her nerve, fling the door open and clutch Anna in her arms, crying and apologizing.

No. she couldn't do that. She couldn't see Anna, she couldn't put her in danger—again.

"That's okay; you don't have to answer if you don't feel like talking." Anna said, and Elsa could swear she heard the sadness in her tone. "If you don't mind… I feel like talking. I'd love to talk to you. If you'd listen…"

Elsa nodded at the opposite wall, willing Anna to go on. She lived to hear Anna's stories. She loved them.

"Well, this week my tutor began teaching me the piano. Gosh, am I a flop! I can't figure out how to hit the right notes, and I even hit the keyboard cover once and it slammed down on my hands!" she laughed and Elsa had to muffle her own giggle.

"Well, needless to say I don't like the piano. I don't think I'm going to be a protégé anytime soon." And Elsa could hear the smile in her voice.

Anna went on and on, telling Elsa of her past week and how her studies were going. She told her what she did for fun. She told Elsa how she had looked out the window the other day and saw a child playing with a dog. Anna said that she was curious what it was like to have a pet, and told Elsa about how she wanted a pet.

Elsa thought about it, wondering if she would ever want a pet. She couldn't see herself owning an animal, perhaps something sturdy that she couldn't freeze. Like a rock.

"And I don't know what kind of dog it was, but it was so cute!" Anna said happily through the door.

After a long pause, Anna sighed, and took a deep breath. "I wish I could see you. I wish… I could at least know you're there, that you're listening… I guess it doesn't matter if you're listening or not, I could have been talking to myself all these years." Anna scoffed. "But… Elsa, you're my sister. I don't care why you think you have to hide from me… You don't. I know you're hiding for a reason, but… You don't have to hide. You don't have to hide from me." Anna finished. A tear dripped down her cheek.

Inside Elsa's room, the temperature was plummeting fast. Elsa was trying her hardest to not sob. She was holding her legs tightly to her chest and biting her bottom lip.

No, Anna didn't know. And she couldn't. She didn't want to hurt Anna again. Not like last time. She couldn't. And that was why she had to stay in her room, why she had to stay away from Anna. She wouldn't hurt this younger sister of hers. Not again.

Anna just didn't understand. She spoke as if she did, but she didn't. She couldn't remember what Elsa did to her, how she had almost died. Anna just didn't understand. If Elsa could learn to control her powers already, then she could see her sister again!

That's right; she was doing this for Anna. She was locked in her room day after day for Anna. She was learning to control her powers so that she could be with Anna in the future. Anna just didn't understand this, and she couldn't. She couldn't understand unless Elsa told her—which she wasn't going to do. As Elsa thought, her room grew colder still.

"Um… Anyway…" The voice outside her door sounded uncertain, but she continued. "I… I painted this the other day… I wanted you to have it." A parchment slid under the door. Elsa didn't dare pull it in until Anna left, or Anna would know she was there, listening. And who knew what fit Anna would throw if she knew Elsa was actually there.

But as the parchment slid under the door, she saw the painting on it.

She had to clasp her hand over her mouth to keep from crying. She looked at the parchment.

It was a very detailed and very good painting of Elsa and Anna as children, playing together in the great hall. Their mother and father were still alive, smiling in the background of the painting and watching their children play.

The picture was so happy; it had so much light and happiness in it that Elsa could feel it coming off the page.

A single tear dripped down her cheek and dropped onto the hardwood floor.

Elsa was so happy, smiling with pure joy in the picture. Anna was more innocent and carefree in this picture than she was now. They were both playing with their old doll house, having the time of their lives. Elsa turned away from the picture. She couldn't handle it.

"My… my teacher told me to paint something happy… This was all that I could think of." Anna said. Elsa could hear her move against the door.

"I miss those times. The happy times that the doors were open and we were best friends and mother and father were still alive… I dearly wish we could go back…" Anna sighed, her head falling against the door.

Elsa sat in the same position on the other side of the door, hand still clasped over her mouth to hide any tell-tale sounds and tears slowly dripping down her face.

She didn't notice, but all of the coldness had left her room. She wasn't focused on her feelings of pain or anger. She was simply sad. Sad that she didn't have those times with her sister anymore.

No.

She resolved and told herself in a steely voice in her mind again just _why_ she was locked in her room and what she had yet to learn.

On the other side of the door, Anna had started talking again and had changed the subject to something else entirely. But still she talked, telling her sister of her daily life.

Though Anna may not have thought what she was doing was worth much, it meant the world to Elsa. Every week she would count down the time until her sister would come outside her door to tell her of her life again. She wished her sister would come every day, but of course she couldn't tell her that.

Elsa loved her sister dearly, more than anything. And THAT was why she had to master her powers and control them.

"Well, it's 5:30. I must get to dinner. I imagine someone will bring you something to eat." Anna said, and Elsa could hear her standing up outside the door.

"I bid you goodnight, sister. And… Same time next week I guess." She gave a small laugh then gently added, "I love you Elsa."

_I love you too, Anna. _Elsa mouthed on the other side of the door.

Elsa heard Anna's footsteps clicking away down the hall. Elsa listened until they were gone, and then slowly pulled the painting inside the room.

She stood and went over to her bed. She sat down, staring at the painting in her lap. She let herself cry freely now, not afraid to make noise.

The tears that slid down her cheeks were icy and cold. Soon, everything in her room was in a similar state. She heard a knock at her door. It was the maid bringing dinner for her. "Leave it there." She called through the door.

She didn't want to eat. She curled up on the bed with the painting, dreaming of a time when life was easier, when Anna knew about Elsa's powers and Anna simply being in Elsa's presence wasn't a threat to her life.

Elsa shuddered and closed her eyes. Dreams. That was all she had, wasn't it? This picture, and forgotten dreams.


End file.
